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by GayLukeSkywalker (heichoooouuuu)



Category: Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Genre: M/M, Nightmares, do not tell me these kids wouldnt have nightmares, mama jack merridew, sensitive jack merridew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7849075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heichoooouuuu/pseuds/GayLukeSkywalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Restless Jack helps the littluns with their nightmares, and maybe a blond biggun, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





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**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a songfic that I wrote a year ago, after reading Lord of the Flies in English. This song that inspired me was  Putting the Dog to Sleep  by the Antlers.
> 
> It's a very atmospheric song and it's five minutes long, I bet you'd be able to read the entire fic before the song is over, so I definitely suggest doing that :)

The night was quiet. The nights were always quiet. So deafeningly quiet that my ears rung. So quiet my train of thought always came back to,  _ damn it's so quiet _ . I heard a small whimper,  _ there it goes _ . It's always like this, silent and then loud. Every littlun lost in their own nightmares. I cover my ears and roll over, trying to distract myself from the sadness and fear of the smaller children. Restlessly, I sat up and uncovered my ears. I gently brush my hand against the arm of the shaking littlun near me. The young boy jumps a little and sits up quickly.

 

"Shh. Don't worry about it, it was just a dream," I say in a hushed voice.

 

The littlun nods and lays back down, mumbling a small thanks.

 

I stand up, stretch, and look around at the boys strewn around the beach. The entire beach is lit up by moonlight and, as much as I'd never say it out loud, I find it spectacular and beautiful. Most of the littluns are shaking, while others are tossing and turning, and even fewer are sitting up, too scared to fall asleep.

 

I walk to one of the boys still awake and crouch down so my eyes are level with his.

 

"What's botherin' you?" I ask, a little bit too casually.

 

"I don't want the beastie to get me. The beastie might get me if I close my eyes for too long."

 

"There's no beastie, if there was one I would have found it and killed it and it would already be in your belly. You should go find the other boys that are awake and lay close to them; first to fall asleep wins a hunting trip with me."

 

The boy's eyes widen. "D'you really mean it? I could hunt with you?"

 

"Only if you fall asleep first!"

 

The littlun scrambles to his feet and runs over to another boy who was still awake. They speak for a bit and run to the next. Rinse and repeat. The boy nearest to me starts talking. At first I thought he was awake too, but he only continues to mumble when I kneel down in front of him. I'm standing in the way of the moonlight, shrouding him in darkness.

 

He starts mumbling a bit louder now, I can almost make out some of his words.

 

"Wait...the...the beast...Jack!"

 

Startled, I push his arm rather hard. Which boy is this, and what is he dreaming about? His eyes flashed open wide.

 

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask, genuinely worried.

 

"Yeah, I'm fine, go back to sleep," answers the other boy.

 

"You were talking in your sleep. About the beastie and..." I pause. I don't know if I wanted him to remember me being there. "I could stay here if you wanted, just so you don't yell anything out again."

 

"Yeah... Sure, go ahead."

 

I lay down in the sand, with my back to the boy. I swear I can feel his gaze on my back until I hear quiet, even breathing. I roll over, no longer obstructing the light from the moon, his face fully illuminated. I almost gasp as I take in his features; his platinum hair is unmistakable. It's Ralph. The oh-so-perfect leader of our small group. My face flushes.  _ What am I doing here _ ? I watch his calm face as he slept. He's never looked this relaxed, never looked this at-peace. I scoot myself closer to him so I can see his face better. The moonlight glints on a wetness on his cheeks and nose. I lift my hand and brush away the tears gently, careful not to wake him up. He does anyway, my efforts in vain.

 

"What are you doing?" he whispers, scrunching up his face in a confused manner.

 

"Sorry, I... you were... Nothing," I say, dropping my hand quickly.

 

"Uh, okay." He looks into my eyes, his own flicking back and forth slowly as he changes his focus from one to the other. His eyes are a deep blue, although I'm pretty sure that's because of the lack of light. Slowly, his eyes start to glisten and a droplet streaks down his face. He quickly wipes it away.

 

"Are you okay, Ralph?"

 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a stupid nightmare. Nothing I can't handle," he insists, wiping another tear off his cheek.

 

"What was it about?" I whisper, leaning towards him a little more so he can hear me.

 

"Nothing... stupid stuff."

 

We sit there in silence, both of us thinking about what to say next.

 

"It's just..." He trails off before starting again. "Are we going to die here?"

 

I take a moment to think of my answer.

 

"No, I don't think we will."

 

"Prove it. Prove we're not going to die."

 

"I can't, but just trust me; I'll make sure you make it back."

 

His face strains. He looks uncertain, and opens his mouth to say something, but quickly decides against it. A few minutes pass before he spits it out.

 

"But what about you, Jack?" he croaks, not meeting my eyes.

 

That was the last straw. I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him close to me.

 

"Who did you think was going to bring you home?"

 


End file.
